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ONE day in the summer of 1890 I received a manuscript entitled "Fiddling His Way to Fame," accompanied by a brief note. Both were signed Will Allen Dromgoole. I read the sketch, and at once remarked to Mrs. Flower that, in my judgment, this was a case of the hand of Esau and the voice of Jacob, or, in other words, though the name signed was that of a man, the sketch was certainly the work of a woman or had been recast by a woman. There were certain fine strokes and delicate touches, in a word, a general atmosphere evincing a fine interior appreciation of the working of the human heart which characterizes woman's thought at its best and which stamped this as the work of a woman. I know this view does not accord with the opinion held by many of my friends in regard to mental differentiation, but my experience thoroughly convinces me that there is a subtle quality and intuitional power which is distinctly characteristic of woman, though there are men who possess this subtle something in a more or less marked degree.

LUNCHING one day with Oliver Johnson, the best "original abolitionist" I ever knew, I submitted to him the question I was debating with myself, namely, whether I might write this little volume of reminiscences without fear of offending excellent people, or, still worse, reanimating prejudices that happily were dying. His reply was, "Write, by all means. Prejudice is the first-born of ignorance, and it never outlives its father. The only thing necessary now to the final burial of the animosity existing between the sections is that the North and the South shall learn to know and understand each other. Anything which contributes to this hastens the day of peace and harmony and brotherly love which every good man longs for." Upon this hint I have written, and if the reading of these pages shall serve, in never so small a degree, to strengthen the kindly feelings, which have grown up of late between the foemen of ten years ago, I shall think my labor well expended. I have written chiefly of the things I saw for myself, and yet this is in no sense the story of my personal adventures. I never wore a star on my collar, and every reader of military novels knows that adventures worth writing about never befall a soldier below the rank of major

THE following narrative was prepared without intention of publication; but I have been led to think that it may be of use, not only as a reminiscence of the "war of secession," but as a fair presentation of slavery in the Border States for the twenty or thirty years preceding the outbreak of hostilities. I am confirmed in this view by the fact, that, on submitting the manuscript to a leading publishing-house in a Northern city, it was objected to, among other reasons, as too tame to satisfy the public taste and judgment. But, from equally intelligent parties in a city farther south, the exactly opposite criticism was made, as if a too harsh judgment of slavery and slaveholders was conveyed, so that its publication would be prejudicial to those undertaking it. I therefore asked the opinion of several friends, who, like myself, had lived all those years under the shadow of the "peculiar institution," in one or other of the northern tier of the slave States, and who labored faithfully for its abolition, giving the best service of their lives to the cause of freedom, "possessing their souls in patience" while contending against what seemed to be an irresistible power. Their concurrence has confirmed me in the opinion, that, however feebly drawn, a true picture, so far as it goes, is given in these pages of the relation between master and slave, and of the social condition of slave-holding communities. Without claiming to be more than a plain story plainly told, it shows things as they were, and how they were regarded by intelligent and thoughtful people at the time.

Please note this is the LARGE PRINT EDITION: THE following little story was written by Mrs. Sarah H. Bradford, of Geneva, with the single object of furnishing some help to the subject of the memoir. Harriet Tubman's services and sufferings during the rebellion, which are acknowledged in the letters of Gen. Saxton, and others, it was thought by many, would justify the bestowment of a pension by the Government. But the difficulties in the way of procuring such relief, suggested other methods, and finally the present one. The narrative was prepared on the eve of the author's departure for Europe, where she still remains. It makes no claim whatever to literary merit. Her hope was merely that the considerably numerous public already in part acquainted with Harriet's story, would furnish purchasers enough to secure a little fund for the relief of this remarkable woman. Outside that circle she did not suppose the memoir was likely to meet with much if any sale. In furtherance of the same benevolent scheme, and in order to secure the whole avails of the work for Harriet's benefit, a subscription has been raised more than sufficient to defray the entire cost of publication. This has been effected by the generous exertions of Wm. G. Wise, Esq., of this city. The whole amount was contributed by citizens of Auburn, with the exception of two liberal subscriptions by Gerrit Smith, Esq., and Mr. Wendell Phillips. Mr. Wise has also consented, at Mrs. Bradford's request, to act as trustee for Harriet; and will receive, invest, and apply, for her benefit, whatever may accrue from the sale of this book. The spirited wood-cut likeness of Harriet, in her costume as scout, was furnished by the kindness of Mr. J. C. Darby, of this city.

To put on record some of the principal events which transpired during the life and labors of the early pioneers of African Methodism, seems to be a duty we owe to those worthy men who have preceded us in the arduous work of establishing a Church attended with such wonderful advantages to the colored people of this country. Blind must the man be who cannot see the design of Providence in prompting the hearts of men to resent the religious intolerance which was hurled against them just at the time when the increasing weight of the yoke of bondage bore so heavily on an already oppressed race that they felt its weight could be carried no further, and that they should build for themselves an institution which should be a harbinger of the great freedom which was so soon to follow. This institution, whose foundation was laid with such wonderful care and labor, has done more to convince the world that colored men possessed in a high degree the power of self-government, and that their hearts swelled with the same love of liberty which animated the hearts of the most noble of earth's sons. The phenomenal success of the Church which had its origin in adversity and obscurity, the offspring's of the minds of men whom the world consider uncultured and inexperienced, its rapid development and advancement, its power to surmount all obstacles and its final and signal success, awakens the admiration and wonder of the Christian world. We do not wonder that those who now live and enjoy the great advantages afforded by this strong and prosperous body, should desire to know something of the character and labors of those men who were the favored instruments in the hands of God, by which he established an institution that has done more to develop the moral force and executive power of the descendants of Africa in America than has been accomplished by any other means. It is certain that we have on record no class of men since the days of the Apostles, who having had no intellectual advantages or moral training, who have accomplished such notable work in the enlightenment and elevation and Christianizing a people who were doomed to ignorance, servitude and degradation as have done that class of men. No one can witness the effect of their ready foresight, their wise counsel and heroic actions under such trying circumstances, without being filled with wonder at the amazing goodness of God in directing their course, and admiration for the power that led them with unerring precision through the dark mazes of superstition and oppression, to such signal victory. They trusted in God with faith scarcely less fervent than that of the primitive Christians. They were men of eminent piety and sound integrity, and there was a silent energy accompanying their labors, though done in an unostentatious manner that gave them success wherever engaged and silenced all opposition. Thus the subject of our narrative was one of the favored ones who were permitted to take an active part in establishing and building up the A. M. E. Church in the Western and Southern states.

NOTE TO THE READER. THIS IS THE LARGE PRINT EDITION of the title: A Brief Miscellaneous Narrative..... The brief narrative I have introduced to the public, has been hastily thrown together. In view of some of the events of the more earlier part of my life, the thoughts of which has always given me a detested hatred to the system of American Slavery. Having thus formed an early impression from what I have suffered, that Slavery was wrong, against which I have felt it to be an imperative duty, to make an expression of my feelings. This I have attempted several times, but have become discouraged, for the want of a liberal education, but of which I have been robbed by the evil genius of American Slavery. In reviewing my past life, I feel that I have been the child of misfortune, being deprived of all early advantages. I have been thrown upon my own resources, upon which I have had to depend. Having quite a zest for learning, and to acquire information, I have been driven to burn the midnight lamp, until my health has become much impaired. For this and the neglect of my youthful training, I lay to the charge of the American people; whose soil of the sunny South my father and mother had to till and cultivate. This has not been their condition alone, but it has been, and still is, the condition of more than three millions of Africa's sons and daughters, that now live upon the soil of the American continent. There are two positions which the colored people occupy in this country: First, as slaves, and Second, as nominal freemen. We ask, what is the condition of the slaves in a land of whips and chains? The apologist for slavery says, "that they are better off than the latter." We admit that the condition of the latter is bad enough; but not to be equalled with the suffering of the slaves, for they are subjected to a condition below that of the brute: denied of all that man holds dear to himself upon earth. They dare not say that their souls are their own, or speak in their own defence. Poor, helpless people! Their manhood is crushed--their rights are trampled in the dust--the female virtue is disregarded--mothers and fathers have their children torn away from their embraces--wives and husbands are separated--brothers and sisters are parted, and yet the apologist for slavery says, "that the slaves are better off than the free blacks of the north." This is not true, for the slave is in every way deprived of his God-given rights, which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. While the nominally free colored man of the north has the right to speak, think, and act for himself, in this respect his situation is widely different, yet he is denied the right of suffrage in common with his white fellow citizens. It is a fact that cannot be denied, that the children, to a greater or lesser extent, inherit the principles of their parents.

LARGE PRINT EDITION: As a result of many years of research and investigation, embracing various volumes, ecclesiastical journals, private letters, as well as information received from the lips of some of the characters mentioned, the author has accumulated considerable data bearing upon the lives of colored men, natives of the State of Maryland, which, in his opinion, ought to be known and studied by the rising generation of colored people of Maryland. It has occurred to him that such data put into a convenient form cannot but prove interesting and helpful to all intelligent and patriotic members of the race. And, again, it is his belief that the appearance of such a volume, recording the annals of the "Men of Maryland" might incite others, lovers of the historical doings of the race, to compile like volumes, with respect to notable and distinguished colored men of the various States of the Union, and, thereby, secure, in substantial form, important historical matter pertaining to the race throughout the country, for the benefit of the generations which are to follow. We have undertaken to present, in this volume, in addition to the historical sketches given, some important data throwing light upon the history of "black slaves," and "free blacks," in Maryland; a clear statement of the great issue of the Civil War; a few extracts from the writings of some of the characters mentioned in the book, and copies of two most important letters which made their appearance in the year 1904, in connection with the effort to introduce "disfranchisement" and "jim-crow" conditions into this State. His Eminence James Cardinal Gibbons, of the Roman Catholic Church, is the author of one of these letters, while the remaining one is from the pen of one of Maryland's most distinguished citizens, the Hon. Charles J. Bonaparte, a former Attorney-General of the United States. We desire to specially acknowledge our debt, in the perfection of this volume, to Brackett's Negro in Maryland, Still's Underground Railroad, Bishop Payne's History of the A. M. E. Church, addresses by Dr. Crummell, and data from William Carl Bollivar, of Pennsylvania, and George W. Forbes, of Massachusetts. Notwithstanding the immense labor involved, extending over many years, in collecting the matter for this volume, the work has afforded the author the keenest pleasure and delight. If we have succeeded in bringing together such informing and cheering facts, with respect to the past history of our people in Maryland, as will stimulate a greater appreciation for the literature of the Colored race we shall feel that our task has not been in vain.

We deem it expedient to annex to our Book of Discipline a brief historical sketch of the rise and progress of the African Union and the First Colored Methodist Protestant Church of the United States of America or elsewhere. The African Union Church was formerly members of the M. E. Church, of Wilmington, Delaware, of African descent, and as early as A. D., 1805; and as the M. E. Church in this region thought proper to deny the colored members of said Church the privileges guaranteed by the word of God and His liberal Gospel, did quietly withdraw from the connection of said Church, and erecting a house of worship, where we could worship God according to the enlightened dictates of our consciences, and for the exercises of our spiritual gifts; and in the prosecution of our undertaking we experienced from the hands of the Lord a peculiar manifestation of Divine favor, and through our own exertions, and the liberality of all the religious denominations, we were able to build a house for religious worship the same year. Then we thought we could have the rule of our Church so as to make our own rules and laws for ourselves, only we knew that we must help to support the preachers that were stationed in Wilmington to preach at both Churches, which we were willing to do. We then thought we had power to refuse any that were not thought proper persons to preach to us, but the stationed preacher that was in Wilmington to preach, told us plainly that we had no say, and he must be the entire judge of all. Then that body of us who built the meeting house could not see our way clear to give up all say, and for that reason our Minister said that we had broke the Discipline, and turned out all the Trustees and Class Leaders, and never allowed us a hearing.

DEAR FRIENDS: --The author of this little book was born a slave, in Goochland county, Virginia, May 3d, 1789. I belonged to a man by the name of Paul Meachum, who moved to North Carolina, and lived there nine years. He then moved to Hardin county, Kentucky, where I still remained a slave with him. He was a good man and I loved him, but could not feel myself satisfied, for he was very old, and looked as if death was drawing near to him. So I proposed to him to hire my time, and he granted it. By working in a saltpeter cave I earned enough to purchase my freedom. Still I was not satisfied, for I had left my father in old Virginia, and he was a slave. It seemed to me, at times, though I was seven hundred miles from him, that I held conversation with him, for he was near my heart. However, this did not stop here, for industry will do a great deal. In a short time I went to Virginia, and bought my father, and paid one hundred pounds for him, Virginia money. It was a joyful meeting when we met together, for we had been apart a long time. He was a Baptist preacher, living in Hanover county, and went by the name of Thomas Granger. While there, on a Sunday morning after I had bought the old man, he was singing and my eyes filled with tears. He turned to me and said, "you are yet in your sins." His words went to my heart, and I began to pray and seek the Lord. Four weeks from that day I found peace in believing upon the Lord Jesus, related my experience to the church, and was baptized by elder Puritan, in Louisa county. This was in the year 1811, when I was about twenty-one years old. My father and myself then earned enough to pay our expenses on the way, and putting our knapsacks on our backs walked seven hundred miles to Hardin county, Kentucky. Here the old man met his wife and all his children, who had been there several years. Oh there was joy! In a short time, my mother and all her children received their liberty, of their good old master. My father and his family settled in Harrison county, Indiana. I married a slave in Kentucky, whose master soon took her to St. Louis, in Missouri. I followed her, arriving there in 1815, with three dollars in my pocket. Being a carpenter and cooper I soon obtained business, and purchased my wife and children. Since that period, I have purchased about twenty slaves, most of whom paid back the greatest part of the money, and some paid all.

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. . . . VOLUME II. EVERY day now brought me nearer my freedom, and I was impatient till we proceeded again to sea, that I might have an opportunity of getting a sum large enough to purchase it. I was not long ungratified; for, in the beginning of the year 1766, my master bought another sloop, named the Nancy, the largest I had ever seen. She was partly laden, and was to proceed to Philadelphia; our Captain had his choice of three, and I was well pleased he chose this, which was the largest; for, from his having a large vessel, I had more room, and could carry a larger quantity of goods with me. Accordingly, when we had delivered our old vessel, the Prudence, and completed the lading of the Nancy, having made near three hundred per cent, by four barrels of pork I brought from Charlestown, I said in as large a cargo as I could, trusting to God's providence to prosper my undertaking. With these views I failed for Philadelphia. On our passage, when we drew near the land, I was for the first time surprised at the fight of some whales, having never seen any such large sea monsters before; and as we failed by the land one morning I saw a puppy whale close by the vessel; it was about the length of a wherry boat, and it followed us all the day till we got within the Capes. We arrived safe and in good time at Philadelphia, and I sold my goods there chiefly to the Quakers.

IMMEDIATELY after Mr. Avery's untimely and tragic death, there was a demand throughout the State that there should be published a memorial volume consisting of selections from his writings. Mr. D. A. Tompkins, Mr. George Stephens, W. H. Twitty and Mr. Chase Brenizer, all of Charlotte, appreciating the importance of the suggestion, assumed the financial responsibility of such a volume. In addition, they conceived the idea that, by the sale of the book, memorial scholarships might be established at Trinity College, Mr. Avery's alma mater. They asked the undersigned board of editors to prepare the volume. The editors now present what is, in their judgment, the best work of this gifted man. We have endeavored to make the selections of such a varied interest as to show at once the versatility of his mind and to appeal to all classes of readers. There has been no revision of his work--with a very few unimportant changes the selections are just as he wrote them. There is no better evidence of his genius than the fact that writing, done at times with such great haste and with the pressure of night work upon him, should be so strikingly free from infelicities of diction. It is the opinion of the editors that the present volume is evidence at once of Mr. Avery's literary ability, and a record of life in North Carolina such as has not been published in the State. We believe, too, that he treated local affairs and local characters with such an unerring knowledge of human nature that his writings will appeal to men of other sections. We bespeak for the volume of a hearty reception by those who knew him in the flesh and felt the charm of his personality; by those who never saw him, but followed his words as eagerly as those of an intimate friend and a genial philosopher; by those who, not having known him before may find here the revelation of a very rare spirit.

THE following account of the life of VENTURE is a relation of simple facts, in which nothing is added in substance to what he related himself. Many other interesting and curious passages of his life might have been inserted, but on account of the bulk to which they must necessarily have swelled this narrative, they were omitted. If any should suspect the truth of what is here related, they are referred to people now living who are acquainted with most of the facts mentioned in the narrative. The reader is here presented with an account, not of a renowned politician or warrior, but of an untutored slave, brought into this Christian country at eight years of age, wholly destitute of all education but what he received in common with domesticated animals, enjoying no advantages that could lead him to suppose himself superior to the beasts, his fellow-servants. And, if he shall derive no other advantage from perusing this narrative, he may experience those sensations of shame and indignation that will prove him to be not wholly destitute of every noble and generous feeling.

ONCE a slave girl, I have endeavored to fill the pages with some of the most interesting thoughts that my mind is so full of, and not with something that is dry. This sketch is written for the good of those that have written and prayed that the slaves might be a freed people, and have schools and books and learn to read and write for themselves; and the Lord, in His love for us and to us as a race, has ever found favor in His sight, for when we were in the land of bondage He heard the prayers of the faithful ones, and came to deliver them out of the Land of Egypt. For God loves those that are oppressed, and will save them when they cry unto him, and when they put their trust in Him. Some of the dear ones have gone to the better land, but this is one of the answers to their prayers. We, as the Negro Race, are a free people, and God be praised for it. We, as the Negro Race, need to feel proud of the race, and I for one do with all my heart and soul and mind, knowing as I do, for I have labored for the good of the race, that their children might be the bright and shining lights. And we can see the progress that we are making in an educational way in a short time, and I think that we should feel very grateful to God and those who are trying to help us forward. God bless such with their health, and heart full of that same love, that this world cannot give nor taketh away.

LARGE PRINT EDITION READER; stay a moment. A word with you before you begin to sample this book. We will tell you some things in advance, which may help you to decide whether it is worthwhile to read any further. These pages deal with a negro, and are not designed either to help or to hurt the negro race. They have only to do with one man. He was one of a class, --without pedigree, and really without successors, except that he was so dominant and infectious that numbers of people affected his ways and dreamed that they were one of his sort. As a fact, they were simply of another and of a baser sort. The man in question was a negro, and if you cannot appreciate greatness in a black skin you would do well to turn your thoughts into some other channel. Moreover, he was a negro covered over with ante bellum habits and ways of doing. He lived forty years before the war and for about forty years after it. He grew wonderfully as a freeman; but he never grew away from the tastes, dialects, and manners of the bondage times. He was a man left over from the old régime and never got infected with the new order. The air of the educated negro preacher didn't set well upon him. The raw scholarship of the new "ish," as he called it, was sounding brass to him. As a fact, the new generation of negro preachers sent out by the schools drew back from this man. They branded him as an anachronism, and felt that his presence in the pulpit was a shock to religion and an offense to the ministry; and yet not one of them ever attained the celebrity or achieved the results which came to this unlettered and grievously ungrammatical son of Africa. But do not be afraid that you are to be fooled into the fanatical camp. This story comes from the pen of a Virginian who claims no exemption from Southern prejudices and feels no call to sound the praises of the negro race. Indeed, he never intended to write what is contained within the covers of this book. It grew up spontaneously and most of the contents were written before the book was thought of. It is, perhaps, too much to expect that the meddlers with books will take the ipse dixitof an unaccredited stranger. They ought not to do it: they are not asked to do it. They can go on about their business, if they prefer; but if they do, they will miss the story of the incomparable negro of the South. This is said with sobriety and after a half century spent in close observation of the negro race. More than that, the writer of this never had any intention of bothering with this man when he first loomed up into notoriety. He got drawn in unexpectedly. He heard that there was a marvel of a man "over in Africa," a not too savoury portion of Richmond, Virginia, --and one Sunday afternoon in company with a Scot-Irishman, who was a scholar and a critic, with a strong leaning towards ridicule, he went to hear him preach. Shades of our Anglo-Saxon fathers! Did mortal lips ever gush with such torrents of horrible English! Hardly a word came out clothed and in its right mind. And gestures! He circled around the pulpit with his ankle in his hand; and laughed and sang and shouted and acted about a dozen characters within the space of three minutes. Meanwhile, in spite of these things, he was pouring out a gospel sermon, red hot, full of love, full of invective, full of tenderness, full of bitterness, full of tears, full of every passion that ever flamed in the human breast. He was a theatre within himself, with the stage crowded with actors. He was a battle-field;--himself the general, the staff, the officers, the common soldiery, the thundering artillery and the rattling musketry. He was the preacher; likewise the church and the choir and the deacons and the congregation.

LARGE PRINT EDITION: Dwelling alone, in a cabin of the most primitive description, on the summit of Copper ridge, five miles south of Maynardville, Union county, Tennessee, is unquestionably, one of the most remarkable men in the state of Tennessee, if not in the entire United States. He is remarkable not only on account of the great age to which he has attained, but equally so on account of the wonderful preservation of his bodily and mental powers. While it is impossible to assign the number of his years with absolute certainty, yet we are fully warranted in the assertion that he has undoubtedly passed the one hundred and twentieth mile-stone in his journey of life; and from collateral circumstances, we may infer that he may have reached, or even exceeded, a century and a quarter. The following pages will afford the reader some idea of his mental powers, nearly all of which were narrated by this old man within the present year (1902); and at this great age, he cuts and splits his wood, makes his fires, and does the principal part of his cooking. Besides, he not infrequently walks a distance of three or four miles and returns within a few hours. He has walked from his cabin to Cedar Ford, a distance of three miles, the voting place of his district, and cast his ballot for every republican candidate for president, from Lincoln to McKinley. He, himself, is at a loss for the cause of his remarkable vitality; as he has been by no means a teetotaler, or strictly temperate in his habits. He laughingly remarks that many of the modern laws of health would have to be reversed in his case. He has been sick only a few times in his life. While it has been his good fortune, under the peculiar regéme of his two masters, to escape much of the drudgery usually falling to the lot of a slave, he has been, nevertheless, a very industrious man, active and energetic. He was fond of most of the old-time sports, and his great strength and activity caused his recognition in games and feats of strength.

LARGE PRINT EDITION A study of human life to-day involves a consideration of conditions of physical life, a study of various social organizations, beginning with the home, and investigations into occupations, education, religion and morality, crime and political activity. The Atlanta Cycle of studies into the Negro problem aims at exhaustive and periodic studies of all these subjects so far as they relate to the American Negro. Thus far, in the first eight years of the ten-year cycle, we have studied physical conditions of life (Reports No. 1 and No. 2), social organization (Reports No. 2 and No. 3), economic activity (Reports No. 4 and No. 7), and Education (Reports No. 5 and No. 6). This year we take up the important subject of the NEGRO CHURCH, studying the religion of Negroes and its influence on their moral habits.

LARGE PRINT EDITION: I BELIEVE it is difficult for those who publish their own memoirs to escape the imputation of vanity; nor is this the only disadvantage under which they labour: it is also their misfortune, that what is uncommon is rarely, if ever, believed, and what is obvious we are apt to turn from with disgust, and to charge the writer with impertinence. People generally think those memoirs only worthy to be read or remembered which abound in great or striking events, those, in short, which in a high degree excite either admiration or pity: all others they consign to contempt and oblivion. It is therefore, I confess, not a little hazardous in a private and obscure individual, and a stranger too, thus to solicit the indulgent attention of the public; especially when I own I offer here the history of neither a saint, a hero, nor a tyrant. I believe there are few events in my life, which have not happened to many: it is true the incidents of it are numerous; and, did I consider myself an European, I might say my sufferings were great: but when I compare my lot with that of most of my countrymen, I regard myself as a particular favourite of Heaven, and acknowledge the mercies of Providence in every occurrence of my life. If then the following narrative does not appear sufficiently interesting to engage general attention, let my motive be some excuse for its publication. I am not so foolishly vain as to expect from it either immortality or literary reputation. If it affords any satisfaction to my numerous friends, at whose request it has been written, or in the smallest degree promotes the interests of humanity, the ends for which it was undertaken will be fully attained, and every wish of my heart gratified. Let it therefore be remembered, that, in wishing to avoid censure, I do not aspire to praise. That part of Africa, known by the name of Guinea, to which the trade for slaves is carried on, extends along the coast above 3400 miles, from the Senegal to Angola, and includes a variety of kingdoms. Of these the most considerable is the kingdom of Benen, both as to extent and wealth, the richness and cultivation of the soil, the power of its king, and the number and warlike disposition of the inhabitants.

South Carolina Slave Narratives: Large Print

The WPA Arkansas Slave Narratives Collection. Part VII: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves.The WPA Arkansas Slave Narratives Collection. Part VII contains over 80 slave interviews and narratives. In addition the title offers sections detailing African American and folklore based interviews with former slaves.